Community Involvement

Making a difference in Nevada County

Christmas Families Project

Our Christmas Families Project began in 2002 and has grown over the years, so much so that we have been able to provide Christmas gifts to hundreds of families with children. We raise funds for this program through our October luncheon, which features a live and silent auction, and through the generous donations of our active members. Many of our members also participate by signing up to help with shopping for families and wrapping the purchased gifts.

The program is designed to be a “helping hand up, not a handout” for families who are working, attending school for new job skills, or find themselves in a temporary, negative economic situation. Each family is carefully screened by Shona Duncan, Director and Owner of Helping Hands Nurturing Center.

The families fill out Wish Lists with each child’s age, gender, clothing sizes, and special gift requests. If there are specific requests from the parents, we try to help them out as well. We start by getting the family wish lists in late October.

OUR PARTNER—Helping Hands Nurturing Center

At Helping Hands Nurturing Center, the team at our non-profit is dedicated to providing compassionate support to families in need. We are committed to fostering a nurturing environment where families can thrive, and children can grow into their full potential.

Each family is given a number (for anonymity), and then the wish lists are given to our shoppers. Once the shoppers have completed their purchases, they deliver their unwrapped gifts to our wrapping center. The gifts start coming in just before Thanksgiving, and they keep coming in until the cutoff date, approximately December 15th. By then, the gifts will all have been wrapped, bagged, and tagged for delivery to Helping Hands Nurturing Center. This will take 60 to 80 shoppers and 30 to 50 wrappers.

Some years, we can fulfill wishes for special items that go beyond the scope of a normal gift purchase. Special items might be a sewing machine, pots and pans, cribs, kindles, beds, or bicycles. We try to budget for these items, but some years we turn to our members for additional help in fulfilling the requests.

Last year, we were able to help 45 families and 85 children! We LOVE this program.